by CHRC | Jun 12, 2020 | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Leadership, Work Place
Obviously that it’s hard.
It all starts with understanding. And understanding begins with listening. We’ve been doing a lot of listening, a lot of reading, a lot of absorbing. There is a lot of listening, reading, and absorbing still to do before this country reaches better understanding.
Here are three articles that we think might be helpful.
The first is from a managing director at Goldman Sachs who has opened up about his experiences as a black man; perhaps because he feels like people are finally listening. In 2011, Frederick Baba had an incident with the police because he “matched the description of an individual who had reportedly stolen from a residence in the area. The description was of a black male in shorts and a T-shirt, with no other details. No color for either article of clothing, and in a city with just under one million black people, I was obviously the culprit.”
The second is an article from the Harvard Business Review about what makes a good listener. Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman describe good listeners being more like trampolines rather than sponges. “[Good listeners] are someone you can bounce ideas off of — and rather than absorbing your ideas and energy, they amplify, energize, and clarify your thinking. They make you feel better not merely passively absorbing, but by actively supporting. This lets you gain energy and height, just like someone jumping on a trampoline.”
The third is a letter from Tim Ryan, US chair and Senior Partner at PwC, outlining the firm’s continued steps to addressing the injustices that too often occur to Black Americans. Ryan states, “It is my responsibility as a leader to not only stand with [Black colleagues] against racism to condemn these killings, but to use my privilege to be a part of the solution and take action – to help dismantle the racism and injustice that has become so pervasive in our society.” From the time Mr. Ryan co-founded the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, PwC lost an employee, Botham Jean, to mistaken identity and police violence, PwC has gone way beyond a fancy ad campaign and is committing their people and hours—and applying peer pressure to other corporations to do the same.
I can’t help but think of the lyrics to the Nick Lowe song that Elvis Costello made famous. The song asks, “So where are the strong and who are the trusted? And where is this harmony, sweet harmony?” Perhaps if we all do our homework, we can be strong and the trusted for one another and bring some of the much-needed harmony to one another, our workplaces, and our world. Read More Here
by CHRC | Jun 10, 2020 | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Leadership, Work Place
Imagine running a marathon. After crossing the finish line, you’re expected to go straight to the office for the day and lead a meeting or present a new proposal to your company. You’d be exhausted—physically and mentally drained. It sounds crazy not to be able to rest and catch your breath after such a daunting and strenuous task.
And yet, this is exactly what many companies are asking of their Black employees. Already overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted, many are often asked to lead the charge against racism. In a recent Fortune commentary, Najoh Tita-Reid, a senior executive of marketing reinvention at Logitech, urges that “while this is indeed a unique moment, the responsibility of dismantling systemic racism must not be placed solely on black employees by asking them to fully lead diversity and antiracism efforts.”
Tita-Reid encourages non-Black leaders to accept responsibility to lead the charge, rather than asking Black employees and leaders—who might already be burnt out. She suggests a few ideas to protect the emotional wellbeing of Black peers, while actively tackling racism in the workplace. Don’t expect Black co-workers to teach you all about race issues; they carry this burden every day. It is your job, as their coworker/boss/peer, to do some emotional heavy lifting, educating yourself on these issues and how to best become a good ally.
Equally important is being respectful of Black colleagues who don’t want to discuss race issues. Once you’ve completed your marathon for the day, you may have no interest in talking about running for a while. Are you suggesting another 5K at the end of the day, or are you handing out Gatorade at the finish line? Read More Here
by CHRC | May 29, 2020 | Economy, Human Capital, Labor Markets, Skilled Labor
For many years, we have been working with clients to explain the difference between labor market differentials and cost of living differentials, two related, but different numbers. Obviously, Mark Zuckerberg has never called us to ask for a tutorial. Put simply, it explains why a cold Midwesterner might give up a 4,000 square foot house to live in a 1,000 square foot home in San Diego—yet pay the same for both dwellings. While a basket of goods might cost more in San Diego, that same former Midwesterner will gladly pay it because they intend on never wearing a parka again, and spending more time outdoors, in the sun, than inside sheltering from the cold.
Labor costs, on the other hand, are all about the supply and demand of certain skills. If too many former Midwesterners with the same set of skills move to San Diego all at the same time, the labor market floods, and the price for their labor goes down. Perhaps the newly warm people don’t care?
Labor markets have been shifting along geographic lines since the US began to emerge from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. CHRC began to see it when clients would call with one-off jobs that were suddenly experiencing turnover, and they couldn’t believe it was due to an increase in wages, but it was. One project, in particular, clearly painted this new picture. We examined roles at various income levels across the entire US expecting all geographies to converge to a national geographic differential of 0% at some point; for all these geographies, north, south, east, west, rural, urban—they never did. The correlations that compensation consultants had typically seen to explain geographic differentials no longer held.
Our observations are well explained by the writings of economist, Enrico Moretti, including his book, The New Geography of Jobs. He uses examples to explain how the concentration of industries and human capital in certain areas leads to innovation (e.g. Detroit at the beginning of the 20th Century or Silicon Valley at the end of the century).
So, what will happen if tech talent is incented away from the Bay Area? Will this de-concentration dilute both talent and innovation? Perhaps it could drive down housing costs and the cost of living (but probably not proportionally). Our advice to Mr. Zuckerberg is that the law of unintended consequences will probably take over; the labor market pricing for talent will hold, people will take their talent to other firms, and move wherever they like. The new recipients of their talent will innovate with it. Mr. Zuckerberg might very well be left with those workers whose skills are not nearly as in demand, who are less likely to innovate, and who are very grumpy about their cost of living. Read More Here
by CHRC | May 27, 2020 | Competencies, Leadership, Work Place
Recently, when speaking with another woman of a certain age, we were both lamenting the loss of civility in the workplace. This loss of civility far predates working from home, Covid-19, and Zoom Meetings. As we grappled with this loss and tried to determine just what seems to be missing from the workplace—it came to us: deference.
Our conversation and the death of deference had been sitting in the back of my mind for days. Then enter Memorial Day weekend filled with articles and stories about military heroes.
One piece that appeared in my newsfeed over the weekend was about PT 109, the ship that President Kennedy skippered in WWII. At first I couldn’t understand why there would be a new item about PT 109; when I looked more closely I realized it was a reprint of one penned in 1944, shortly after he had recovered from the injuries sustained in that accident. This piece was written more to educate the readers to the terrors of the war in the Pacific Theatre, than it was to make a hero out of a young lieutenant. But as we all know, the rest is history.
I recently read how much President Obama admired President George H. W. Bush, and visited him just three days before he passed away. I re-watched the remarks and interaction when Number 44 awarded Number 41 the Medal of Freedom, and he began those remarks with “From a decorated Navy pilot who nearly gave his life in World War II …”
It’s history. How can you have deference without history? You might still find deference in families, because in families we tend to know people’s ages and their histories. We used to have it in companies, because people stayed in organizations their entire careers. I once was with a group of Nabisco professionals and one leaned over to me and whispered of another, “He is the guy who got the bubbles out of the Oreo cream”—not only with deference, but with awe! When I was a youngster at Coopers & Lybrand, someone confided about the nicest partner I’d met, “He was the youngest person to ever make partner.”
When people worked together for longer periods of time, folks remembered who had saved your behind—and it didn’t need to be as dramatic as tugging you behind them while swimming three hours in the Pacific. It was the opposite of having to sing your own praises, people sang YOURS because everyone worked together long enough to know your strengths and weaknesses, why you could be counted on, and when you’d been a hero and saved the day.
by CHRC | May 20, 2020 | Competencies, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Economy, Human Capital, Productivity
As the world begins to reopen and summer approaches, parents are still left juggling work and children. A (welcomed) end may be in sight for remote learning, but most daycares, summer camps, and kids’ programs are closed, leaving children perpetually home for the summer. How can America be open for business when so many parents need to remain home to care for children?
The federal government has tried to help parents during this time, implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), but the measures put in place really only benefit some parents. A recent Time article addresses this same concern. “Businesses with more than 500 employees are excluded from the mandate, and firms with fewer than 50 can ask for an exemption. That’s left more than 59 million Americans… uncovered by those government leave provisions.” Without the option to work from home, some parents are forced to resign in order to care for children.
Like the other structural flaws that Covid-19 has exposed, it’s abundantly clear that there’s a bigger problem with our current childcare system. Elliot Haspel, author of Crawling Behind: America’s Child Care Crisis and How to Fix It, says, “I think that the crisis calls for a complete re-envisioning of the American childcare system.” Hopefully, we will take what we’ve learned during these times to create solutions that work for all families. Until we do, this will limit the labor supply of those 20 to 45, which are typically key earning years. Read More Here
